Im on my first day of coming off 40 of citalopram. my doctor told me to cut down to 30 for a couple weeks and then check in to see how im doing. Going off it cold turkey is gutsy! but if its working more power to ya!
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Im on my first day of coming off 40 of citalopram. my doctor told me to cut down to 30 for a couple weeks and then check in to see how im doing. Going off it cold turkey is gutsy! but if its working more power to ya!
Good luck Kishi, coming off it's not easy I am 2 weeks 2 days off them now. I thought it was 3 weeks as I said in my last post but just checked my diary lol. I feel very shaky and fearful of every thought. But I have to tell myself it is partly due to withdrawals. I hope so but I am determand to get through this. I feel i shouldn't have been put on them if the first place. I suffered worse with anxiety and panic through being on them there is no doubt about that.
I would like to know what it is that makes you feel so bad as now I am sure they are out of my system. Has anyone got any advice on this please? The last 3 days havn't been good.
Cathy xx
I have only been on cit for 3 days but I feel its been the wrong decision for me and I feel I want to stop taking them as I just want to finish university (my final year) and then maybe try them again when I dont have much else to worry about.
Will coming off them completely after only taking 3 tablets, be really horrible? Everything is too much at the moment and these tablets I feel im not ready to take them yet.
Speak to your gp even ask for a phone consoltation. Three days is fine to come off them. I wouldnt think they would give you bad withdrawals. But as I say the gp will advise.
Cathy xx
Cathy
I'm about a week into coming of citalopram cold turkey and I have never felt so ill in my life! Nausea, wooziness, body aches, tiredness, insomnia, pulse going crazy and getting really hot!
However I completely agree with you that it has been an amazing and life changing decision. I no longer feel numb, I feel emotion and I feel human. My libido has instantly returned and I enjoy having sex again.
Citalopram doesn't suit everyone and doesn't help everyone. I think it helped me initially but then I needed a dose increase and I thought to myself that surely if it was truly working I wouldn't need to increase?
I feel let down and almost tricked by my GP and pyschiatrist who put me on them and increased my dosage. Not one explained possible side effects, not one explained that I may feel numb, and not one warned me that coming off them would be near on impossible to cope with.
I take comfort in the fact that I am not alone. Finding this site has given me the confidence to know that these effects are normal and they will pass. I can kick depressions butt better than this drug and that's exactly what I intend to do!
Good luck to everyone trying to come off citalopram x
Got put on cit after a crap time in my life. My doctor told me to take them for 6 months and then come off of them. She started me on 20s but they just put me on another planet and the side effects were unbelievable. So i went down to 10s. Doing this helped a bit but side effects didnt go away the worst was chest pains and dizziness in fact dizziness lasted 24/7. My 6 months are up so i am coming off of them. For a week i took one every other day but on Mon i decided to take one every 2 days. I took one Mon night Tues i felt ok yesterday Wed i felt better than i have done for ages however today Thurs it is awful. dizziness, feels like my head is being used as a washing machine, aches everywhere, chest tightness walking like a drunk. Phoned my doctor got a different one as you do, its the withdraw symptons he said and when he told me it could last up to 3 months well if i had been in the surgery i would have punched him in the mouth i swear. The only upside is that my sexual feelings have come back. tho yesterday i thought i woke up dead due to the fact that i woke up with an erection for the first time in months and i thought rigamortice had set in. Chest pains have subsided tho. These bloody tablets are evil all they do is dull your emotions and give you aches and pains. Why waste money on a space programme they only need to put astronauts on these evil pills and they will be on a different planet in no time.
Hi, I have been on Citalopram since the age of 18, 6years now... I have attempted to reduce many times in the past, and failed with no help from GP, mental health or hospitals... They usually just advise me to try other drugs or increase, feel like I am talking to aliens half the time! and the last time I received advice on changing medications I ended up in hospital.
The highest dosage I have been prescribed was 40mg... I then lowered to 30mg over a year period... I am now on 30mg trying to lower to 25mg... I am finding myself constantly feeling exhausted... to the point where I feel like I am on sleeping pills and unable to keep my eyes open. I have also begun to notice that about 30mins after taking my medication I begin to pass out... Has anybody experienced this before? this is usually when I wake up, I end up back asleep again within the hour, it really is terrible! been experiencing terrible headaches! worst ever, anybody had this???
Would appreciate any advice! Thanks :D X x x
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Haha! I Love you Irvin!!! These pills are Evil! & trust me I have wanted to punch my GP, Psychiatrist, Councillor you name it many times... They talk to me as if I have no brain, although half the time it feels that way! They have been incredibly patronizing and it is never their concern.
When I ask: Seeing as you put me on this medication, what advice can you give me on coming off it?
GP: It's up to you, you can decide how you feel... it makes steam come out of my ears... I am so tired, and spaced out, my memory is diminishing by the hour... & they really think a 23 year old who is drugged up to her eyeballs can get off this drug on her own??? it is crazy! but they make me so mad, I have decided to come off it without their "Advice".
Hi Hanako i had same as you passing out feeling awful headaches tired all the time so i thought ******** to this enough is enough. I looked at it this way if you come off of them gradually you are still putting them in your system, you can go a month on 20s then a month on 10s then a month on 5s but all the time you are still putting them in your system. But you have to stop taking them at sometime even if its gone down to 5s so surely when you stop you are still going cold turkey. So i decided to go cold turkey 3 weeks ago. I dont mind telling you the first week was hell. But after 3 weeks i feel so much better certain symptoms i had stayed with me 24/7 but now i am getting long periods of relief. My main symptom was dizziness couldnt walk sometimes felt like i was drunk. now however getting long periods of relief from dizziness. You have to go with ya gut feeling Hanako. All doctors tell you different things anyway. i started taking kalms they help as well. The best of luck on yr journey keep in touch if ya go cold turkey stick with it it gets better. The best thing for me was when i flushed the bog pan and saw the pills disappear round the bend and i hope heading out to effin sea.:yesyes:
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Hi again Hanako i imagine that you are female and your name might be hannah. If you are on facebook be my friend there are one or 2 of us on there that chat we find it good to share our experiences instead of dwelling on them we turn them into a funny situation also if you want to know something it is better to get on instant reply on facebook than wait weeks on here. im on facebook as irvin phillimore you cant miss me im the only bugger with that name. oh if you are married tell your partner what you are doing. we are all in enough trouble with these bloody tablets without having an irate partner on our hands lol
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Bit dizzy today went up the shop to do a bit of staggering up the aisles as we do, bounced of the cornflakes and cat food thought i had got away with it but got the tea and coffee on the way back lol:)
Hi all, the pills will not cure you but they will help by removing negative thoughts and giving you more ability to deal with the problems.
The same is true of coming off them, the side effects are simply that and like those when you first started taking them will wear off over time. Use them for a reason and then come off them when ready and by doing it sensibly. Be aware that you will feel moody when stopping but that is caused by the pills and not the issues you had when you started to take them. Hopefully they will now be resolved and you can move on. I took them for two years. The side effects when I started were awful and lasted about 6 weeks. I am now off them, interestingly the side effects started about 4 weeks after stopping! I know though that what I'm feeling will subside. Don't give up! Good luck.